A Gunman's Gift
by Hitorako
Summary: Vash gives Wolfwood a gift. Just a little bit of mindless fluff.


Even when you're on the road as much as I am, you expect to see certain things when you wake up in the morning. The dingy hotel room you're staying in, for instance, in more or less the same condition it was in when you went to sleep. Your clothes, perhaps, hanging on the back of a chair. If you're really lucky, a decent-looking member of the opposite sex you managed to pick up in the saloon the night before. So when I opened my eyes to see Vash's peaceful face lying next to mine, his green eyes gazing thoughtfully at me, I took the only logical course of action available to me. I closed my eyes again.

My sleep-fogged brain tried to come up with a reason why Vash the Stampede would be on his knees next to my bed, his arms folded on it and his head resting serenely on them, or maybe a reason why he'd be watching me sleep with that strange contented smile tugging at his lips. After a few minutes, though, a reasonable explanation had still failed to occur to me, so I decided to be brave and open my eyes again.

"Good morning!" I rolled my eyes at the brightness in his voice. It figures that he's a morning person - I, on the other hand, don't usually function in the mornings before I've drunk more coffee than is probably healthy. "Sleep well?"

An inarticulate groan was my only reply as I pulled the blankets over my head and rolled over. Maybe if I ignored him, he would go away.

No such luck. I found the blankets yanked off me with lightning speed, despite my feeble attempts to grab them back. "Would you like some breakfast?" Actually, that did sound pretty good, so I quit struggling. Damn him for finding my weakness. I opened my eyes once more to see a slightly beaten-up box of donuts being held in front of my face. I sat up a bit wearily and opened the offered box to find one lonely donut sitting in the bottom, surrounded by a number of crumbs, no doubt remnants of its less-fortunate companions. I gave Vash a curious look, and he blushed a little. "I, um, got a little hungry on the way back from the store. Sorry."

"That's okay," I said with a shrug, taking the donut and discarding the package carelessly on the floor. I ate the donut slowly and thoughtfully, aware of Vash watching me the whole time. Something was going on, and I couldn't figure out what it was. Vash and I usually shared a hotel room when we traveled like this, with the insurance girls sharing another, and we'd spent more than our fair share of nights out drinking together, but not once had I ever woken up to see him staring at me like that. And not once had he ever brought me breakfast in bed, if that's what this could be called. I wasn't sure how to go about asking what was going on, though, so I finished my donut in silence, licked the crumbs from my fingers, and wiped them briskly on the sheet I lay on. In an attempt to break the awkward silence, I sighed heavily and said, "Aaah, that hit the spot!" I immediately found myself lacking in anything else to say, though, so I simply flashed him the biggest goofy grin I could.

For a moment he looked like he was trying to say something, but then he shook his head slightly, almost as if deciding against it, and sat up a little straighter, rummaging in his pockets. After a few seconds he produced a small box wrapped in colorful paper and tied with a slender red ribbon. Holding it out in his palm, he looked at me with eager green eyes, but I just stared at it. A present? My mind scrambled to remember if it was some kind of obscure holiday, but came up blank. It wasn't my birthday - not that he knew when my birthday was, anyway. Why a present? "For you," he prompted, his voice childlike and quiet. Jeez, it sounded almost like he expected me to be upset with him.

I carefully took the box from his hand and turned it around. Good wrapping job - nothing less from the infamous Vash the Stampede. "What's the occasion, Tongari?"

The childlike innocence in his voice was replaced by quiet contemplation when he answered, "It's been six months. That we've been traveling together, I mean. Actually, it hasn't been six full months, since you ran off and disappeared a couple of times, but mostly we've been traveling together. It was six months ago that we met, anyway. And...I just wanted to get you something, because you've saved my life more than a few times, and, well...I've enjoyed your company. I guess it's just a little 'thank-you' gift." He smiled, once again looking like the idiot outlaw I'd come to know him as.

I looked at his beaming face, stunned. I looked back down at the package, and for lack of anything better to do, I opened it. The ribbon gave way to one quick tug, the paper disappeared with a pleasing crackling and tearing noise, and I was left holding a small polished metal tin. A strange crisscrossing pattern of etched lines and curves covered the shining surface. On one side there was a small rectangular nameplate, and on it were engraved the letters, "NDW." It was beautiful, even though I didn't have the slightest idea what it was.

"It's a cigarette case," Vash said, in answer to my unspoken question. "Not that I approve of you smoking, of course - it's a terrible habit. But, I couldn't help but notice that your cigarettes are always getting bent and rumpled from being stuffed in your pocket all the time, so I thought..." He trailed off, a faint blush tinting his cheeks again.

"Wow. Thanks, Tongari," I said, turning the cool metal case over in my hands. "I don't know what to say." With a smile, I added, "And I didn't get anything for you."

Vash stood up, that strange smile on his face once more. He brushed himself off and leaned over the bed. My eyes remained fixed on the cigarette case, and I was vaguely aware of his presence hovering over me, of the smell of red leather, and of the gentle pressure of his lips on the top of my head. I blinked, unmoving, as he stood up straight again. "Yes, you did." His voice was barely more than a whisper, soft and breathy, in sharp contrast to the harsh noise of the door closing behind him seconds later.

With a bit of stretching, I managed to retrieve my cigarettes from my pile of clothes, and smirked as I lit up - he was right, after all. The things did have a tendency to get fairly crumpled. I put the remaining cigarettes in the case and tossed it on top of the pile of clothes. Smiling, I leaned back against the headboard to finish my cigarette. I had to admit, it wasn't a bad way at all to start the day. 


End file.
